Fiber-reinforced plastic components can be produced using textile semi-finished products, so-called prepregs. In the case of such prepregs, a textile fiber material is pre-impregnated with a thermoplastic matrix material below a polymerization starting temperature. In order to form the fiber-reinforced plastic component, the prepregs are stacked on top of each other in a laying process in order to form a layered packet and then subjected to a deep-drawing or compression procedure.
International patent application WO 2012/116947 A1 discloses a method of the generic type for producing prepregs, that is to say, fiber-reinforced flat semi-finished products with a polyamide matrix. With this method, first of all, textile structures are pre-impregnated with a liquid starting component of the polyamide matrix, that is to say, melted lactam, along with added catalysts and/or activators, and this is done in a continuous process. After the consolidation has been carried out, the pre-impregnated continuous textile structure is prepared in a cutting station to form fiber-reinforced flat semi-finished products which are stacked on top of each other in a stacking station. During the further processing sequence, the pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products are transported to an assembly station where the textile semi-finished products are stacked on top of each other in a laying process and cut to size according to the final contour of the component that is to be produced. The layered packet thus formed is subsequently placed into a mold. This is followed by the forming step, which is done at a temperature above the polymerization starting temperature in a compression or deep-drawing procedure. In this manner, the pre-impregnated lactam polymerizes to form a polyamide. The simultaneous deep drawing and compression impart the fiber-reinforced flat semi-finished product with the desired shape of the component that is to be produced.
The problem encountered in the process chain described above is that, in the pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products, the starting component of the thermoplastic matrix, which has not yet polymerized, reacts upon coming into contact with the environment, that is to say, with the humidity, the oxygen, the UV light or the like, as a result of which its processability, especially its polymerization, is impaired over the course of the further processing. In order to reduce such a detrimental reaction with the environment, in the state of the art, the pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products are dried in an energy-intensive manner during their storage and transport until they are processed.